If Johnny Football, the massive persona Manziel developed in college at Texas A&M, winds up following him here to Cleveland, it will be because of what Manziel is able to do on the field in the NFL, Pettine said.

"Cleveland is hopeful, as we are all, that he will become Johnny Football here," Pettine said. "He hasn't completed a pass in the NFL, scored a touchdown in the NFL. We don't want to rush it. This is a classic cart-before-the-horse situation. We want it to be that way over time. I don't think it's that we're quelling it, I just think that we want to temper it."

This rookie minicamp is the only time this spring in which Manziel will be the top quarterback on the field. The starting job currently belongs to Brian Hoyer, the veteran who took over as Cleveland's starter for three games last season before tearing his ACL.

Manziel and Hoyer have begun working together this week in meetings, though they won't share the practice field together until organized team activities start next week. The Browns' next full minicamp is June 12-14.

"I'm a rookie, I need to earn my place. I need to earn my keep. Nothing here needs to be handed to me," Manziel said. "I don't need to be treated off of what I've done in the past, because that doesn't mean a thing at this level. I'm completely OK with hearing that from everyone. I don't want to come in here and be handed something that I don't deserve."

So far Manziel appears to be trying to act the part of dutiful backup.

Manziel has been quiet on social media and backed out of a golf tournament in Dallas in favor of moving immediately to Cleveland, where he was able to begin working last week. The minicamp began Friday, and about 40 local reporters got their first glimpse of Manziel in uniform Saturday morning.

With rap music by Jay Z blaring in the team's indoor practice facility and team owner Jimmy Haslam watching from near midfield with Pettine, Manziel stretched, went through warm-up exercises and participated in individual quarterback drills. He made a few handoffs to running backs and completed three short passes, each to a running back, before the viewing period ended.

But those first images of Manziel in his Browns uniform -- brown shorts, orange helmet and a red non-contact practice jersey -- will be enough to keep the Manziel news cycle spinning – even if the Browns wish it didn't.

Cleveland is consumed by "Manzielmania" while Browns officials are trying to keep the news media at bay.

The Browns limited access to a reduced number of local reporters, who have been allowed one 15-minute viewing period during the three-day minicamp. The Browns also prohibited all outside television cameras from the press conferences with Manziel, and barred local reporters from taking pictures of Manziel or other draft picks with their smart phones. The team provided pool video.

NFL teams are allowed to limit access to rookie and voluntary camps. USA TODAY Sports was among the national outlets barred from the Browns minicamp.

"If we feel like there is something that we can control that will limit the distractions that this will bring, then we'll go ahead and do it," Pettine said. "It won't be the most popular thing, especially on a national level, but we also feel that the credibility of the Browns – what stock we have nationally, I don't think we're very highly thought of given the recent history of the team, so it's not really something we're interested in playing to. We want to bunker in, build the best football team we can build and win in the fall."

But limiting access to just Cleveland reporters didn't reduce the spotlight on Manziel, who answered questions for about 10 minutes. Pettine, in his 11-minute media session, was asked one question about the rookie class as a whole and one question about a player other than Manziel -- fullback Eric Kettani, a Cleveland native who was participating on a try-out basis.

Other rookies, meanwhile, were asked questions about their famous new teammate.